Reel and a method of forming it



Mach 28, 1939. 1= S, MCCANN 2,152,522

REEL AND A METHOD oF FERMIN@ 1T l Filed sept. 27, 1954 2 sheets-sheer 1 H5. McCAA//v March 28, 1939. P, s, MccANN 2,152,522

REEL AND A METHOD OF FORMING IT Filed Sept. 27, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lhvmmm @y Patented Mar. 28, 1939- i REL AND A LIETHOD F FOBMING IT Paul S. McCann, La Grange, Ill., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation o! New York Application september 21, 1934', serial No. '14s,s5s claims. (cram-17) This invention relates to reels anda method of forming them and more particularly to metallic reels for supporting material s eptible of being wound thereon and a method of forming them.

It is an object of the presentinventionto provide an inexpensive, strong and durable metallic reel having a low weight consistent with its strength and an improved method vof forming reels. l

In accordance with one embodiment the in; vention contemplates the provision of a reel-composed of a pair oi.' metallic heads, each comprising a plurality of segments formed from rectangular sheets of metal corrugated transversely in such a manner as to bring the sheet aroundl into the form of an annulus, the corrugations being deeper in the direction of the thickness of the sheet at the inner edge of the annulus ,than at the outer edge thereof to use the excess metal and makethl head thicker at the inner portion thereof so as^ to strengthen the head at the point .of greatest stress.

membersl with their flanges extending inwardly are welded to the inner and outer edges of the annulus to provide means for xing a drum to the inner edge and to provide a smooth outer sui-, face for the head to which lagging may be attached. A

Other novel features and advantages will become apparent in the following detaileddescription when considered in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a reel which is a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows showing the channel members secured to the inner and outer edges of one of the annular segments and the means for holding the drum in position between the heads.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig.,2 showing an alternate embodiment of the invention when used with adifl'erent type of drum;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the corrugated segmentsv showing how the corrugations are formed to form a rectangular sheet to a semicircular shape; y

Fig. 5 is a -perspective view showing schematically a set of rolls which may -be used to form the corrugated segments if the process is to be done by roll forming apparatus; l

Fig. 6 is a partial sectionalview takenon the line 8-6 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows, and

Fig. 7. is a partial sectional view taken on the A pair of circular channel line 1-1 of Fig. 6 in the direction of the arrows showing a modied embodiment of the structureshown in Figs. 1 and 6.

Referring -now to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate the same parts 5 throughout the several views, the head of the reel is built up of four segments I0, each of which is comprised of a rectangular sheet of metal corrugated to form a semi-circular plate having v deeper corrugations at its narrower edge than at '10 its wider or outer edge. This construction will make the head segment I0 progressively stronger from its outer to its inner edge. 'I'he segments may be formed by forming rolls 9 such as those shown schematically in Fig. 5rl which may be 16 driven by suitable mechanism (not shown) and which will receive a rectangular sheet between them to form corrugations in it deeper along one edge than along the other to bend the sheet into substantially arcuate form without the necessity 20 of drawing the metal.- After the segments III have been corrugated or uted as just described. they are welded together as shownby the heavy lines Il (Fig. 1) to form an annular disk which serves as a head of a reel. If desired, the disk 25 may be made of a single strip of metal long enough to form the entire annulus.A

After the annular corrugated disks have been formed by welding the segments III together, an annular channel member I2 is spot welded to the 80 inner surface of the annular disk as shown at Il and an annular channel member 4 is spot welded to the cuter surface of the ular disk as shown at -IS and I6. These po t welds secure the annular disk to the channel member I 4 at the 35 apex of each corrugation or `spoke and to the channel member I2 at the mid point between the apexes ofthe corrugations or spokes. For certain types of stresses to which the reel may be. subjected it is preferable to weld the annular 40 reinforcing members to the spokes at selected points rather than having a continuous weld all around the end of the spoke. The greater flexibility thus secured will add to the life of` the reel when subjected to such stresses. 45

vThe channel member I2 has apertures .I1 formed in its anges through which bolts lli may be passed to supporta flanged drum I9 having` apertures 20 therein in alignment withthe apertures I1 in the channel member I2.- The anged 50 drum I9 extends between the heads and serves to space them 4apart a predetermined distance and is attached to both of the heads in the manner shown in Fig. 2. The bolts I8 pass through th -anges o f the inner channel member I2 and 55 v lus is made be rectangular in form. When the sheets have this form the total developed length around the inner circle of the annulus is equal to that around the outer circle. Then considering the orrugations facing one side of the sheet as spokes interconnected by webs, the developed width of the metal in each spoke from the center of one web to the center of the next web at the inner end of the spoke is equal to the developed width at the outer end or at any other point along the spoke.

It may be desirable in some cases to have va smooth inner surface on .the reel head to prevent ilexible material wound thereon from binding in the corrugations and when such is the case a liner plate 60 may be welded to the corrugated portion of the head and to the outer annular channel member I4 as shown at 6| and 62.

The reel head structure of this invention lends itself well to-the utilization of light weight heat hardenable materials, which can be formed while in the unhardened condition and heat treated to increase their strength either in the f ully assembled condition or in a partially assembled condition. I

In some instances itis desirable to mount reels of this type upon reel stands so that cable wound thereon may be drawn therefrom for insertion in cable conduits. This necessity of unwinding material from the reel, sometimes occurs in the ileld and at such times the reels are rotated about their axis and the cable fed from the reel directly into conduits.

In order to facilitate the removal of material from the reel there is provided a pair of spiders 22 which may be positioned adjacentthe reel heads on each side of the drum. These spiders consist of radial arms 2,3, 24, 25 and 26 which vare formed from one piece of metal and have a substantially U-shaped cross section. At the Junction point 21 of the arms 23, 24, 25 and 28, apertures 20 are formed to receive `the rod or shaft of a reel stand about vwhich the reel is to be rotated. 'I'he outer ends of the arms are bent as shown at 20 to engage the reel heads, lugs 3| being f. rovided on the drum to prevent axial move ent of the spiders and the bent portions are provided with apertures 28 through which the bolts Il may be passed to hold the spiderin Vbe inserted in the Ireel and held in place by the bolts Il and the insertion or removal of the spiders may -be eifectedwith great ease. The

`spiders shown herein are similar to those disclosed in'U. S.Patent 1,911,427 to A. A. Bureau.

Referring to Fig, 3 wherein a modified embodiment of the invention is shown, the numeral 40 4indicates a straightv drum not having anges formed thereon which may be used. In this embodiment of the invention the annular member I2 is not used and the annular disk formed by the segments I0 is spot welded to the peripheral surface of the drum 4l! at points 4I which are at the mid pointsl between the apexes of the corruwith the corrugations therein having substantial depth at right angles to the plane of the annulus from edge to edge of the sheet and being progressively deeper from one edge of the material to the other, an' annular reinforcing .member welded only adjacent the apexes of the corrugations at the outer edge of the annulus. and an annular reinforcing member welded to the inner edge of the annulus only adjacent the mid points between the apexes of thecorrugations.

2. A reel including spaced heads, and a hanged drum, said heads comprising a plurality of arcuately shaped segments each formed from a rectangular sheet of metal and corrugated irregularly to form them to the segment of an annulus, the segments being welded together to form said annulus, outer circular channel members having their flanges extending inwardly and welded to the outer apexes of the corrugations in the heads. inner circular channel members having their l flanges extending inwardly and having their webs welded to the midpoint between the apexes of the corrugations in the heads, and a plurality of bolts extending between the heads and extending through apertures in the flanges ofthe drum and through apertures in the flanges of the inner circular channel members to secure the heads and drum in place.

' 3. A method of forming a reel head comprising undulatingly corrugating rectangular sheet material and making the corrugations with a substantial depth at both edges of the sheet and at right angles to-the plane lof the material before it is corrugated and deeper along one edge of the material than along the opposite edge to reduce the overall linear dimension of the material at one edge relative to the overall linear dimension ing the mid-points between the apexes of thek con'ugations to the inner reinforcing member.-

4; A reel head including a disk formed from sheet material corrugated to form an annulusr Y withV the corrugations therein formed radially at right angles to the plane of the annulus from edge to edge of the sheet and having substantial depth at both edges but deeper at one edge than at the. A other, and an annular reinforcing member weld-` ed to the outer edge of the annulus at predetermined spots along then edge of the corrugations to permit, under normal strains, a small amount of relative movement ,between the portions of the head and reinforcing member which are not welded together.

5. A method of forming a reel head comprising undulatingly corrugating rectangular sheet material and making the corrugations with a substantial depth at both edges at right angles to the plane of the uncorrugated sheet and deeper along one edge of the material than along the opposite edge to reduce the overall linear dimension of the material at one edge relative to the overall linear dimension at the other edge thereby to form an annulut thicker at its inner cir cular edge than at its outer circular edge, and securing reinforcing members to the inner and outer edges oi' the annulus by point welding portions of the edges of the corrugations to the outer reinforcing member and by point welding portions of the edges of the corrugations to the inner reinforcing member.

PAUL S. McCANN. 

